A War with a Twist
by u muggle
Summary: Miss Granger if you'd stop prancing about and got on with it then maybe we'd be winning!" Hogwarts is at war... "Two against four in a snowball fight..."
1. Chapter 1: Prancing about

**A War with a Twist**

Chapter 1: Prancing about

The snow fell heavily as the two people crouched down low behind the barrier, the only obstacle shielding them from defeat. Shots rained down heavily, constantly on them. It had started this morning with no warning or time to prepare, the war had begun.

"Miss Granger if you'd just stop prancing about and got on with it then maybe we would be winning!" Professor Snape spat angrily.

"What do you mean _prancing about, _sir may I remind you that we are in this together whether you like it or not!" Hermione shouted back just as aggressively.

"Believe me Miss Granger, I would much rather be anywhere else but here with you!" he replied matter of factly.

"How dare you, you, you evil over grown bat!" Hermione retorted, hand flying instantly to her wand. Snape dived forwards, knocking Hermione off balance. She hit the cold, wet ground hard, sprawled beneath the heavy weight of his body. Laying their stiffly she suddenly noticed how close his face was to hers, his dark black pools for eyes focused on hers for a split second before he turned away and picked himself up.

"One was about to hit you," he said gruffly while wiping snow off his long black coat. Noticing she was still on the ground he offered her a hand, blushing slightly she accepted and shook the snow out of her hair. They sat in silence for a while, only the sound of their heavy breathing could be heard and the shots reigning down hard on the barrier in front of them.

"I still think it's not fair!" Hermione suddenly blurted out.

"In case you hadn't noticed Miss Granger, life isn't fair," he stated, staring out into the white landscape around them. His lips drawn into a tight line and his gloved hands placed inside his coat pockets.

"But I mean come on, two against four in a **snowball fight**! That's just ridiculous!" she replied with a heavy sigh. Snape turned to face her and said with slight amusement.

"Miss Granger I wouldn't be too worried, Mr Potter and Mr Weasley have a limited brain size, I daresay both their brains together could only throw five snowballs every half an hour. As for Lupin I'm sure he would be a _great_ help, Albus is the only immediate danger, he may be old but he is incredibly sly. Anyway, how can we lose when we have me?"

Taking his usual pose, with his arms crossed he started to pace, talking in his classroom manner as though it was a normal potions lesson. " Now, do you want to beat the boy who lived to make my life a nightmare, the ginger headed numbskull, the old coot who seems to have a Christmas light permanently twinkling in his eye and that chocolate loving werewolf?" He said, managing to keep his face emotionless.

"Yes sir," Hermione replied uncertainly.

"Well here's what we will do then!" Snape announced with a scarily evil smirk on his face. He gestured for Hermione to come closer to him, those deep pools of black staring intently at her face as he explained what was to be done. He withdrew his wand from his pocket and pointed it at her. Hermione tensed, nervous as to what he was going to do next. Then as she realised he was placing a spell on her so they wouldn't get separated in the chaos that would soon ensue, her body relaxed and she noticed he was holding her hand. His skin was surprisingly smooth and his movements were gentle as he made a small circle in her palm, he pulled away suddenly and then she remembered it was only for the spell. He caught her eye, nodded stiffly and then ran swiftly along the barrier, his coat swaying in the wind behind him. Realising he was expecting her to follow she ran behind him. Maybe they did have a chance of winning after all.

"Ready?" he asked. Hermione nodded nervously. "NOW!" he bellowed.


	2. Chapter 2:The Big Plan

**Chapter 2:The Big Plan**

Snowballs started to levitate all around them as Hermione, with her wand in her hand muttered," Wingardium Leviosa." Immediately they halted, hovering in mid air as she waited for the signal from Professor Snape. Glancing side ways she saw the prominent tall figure of her Professor, his strands of black hair falling over his eyes as he prepared for the distraction. Hands nimbly tying bundles together despite the fact they were gloved and frozen with the cold, his lips constantly moving from the charms he was muttering. She gulped, was this really going to work? Snape's eyes darted along the barrier checking that the bundles were secured properly, and then he gave a slight nod in her direction. With a flick of her wrist the snowballs went hurtling towards the opposite end of the battlefield. She ran not waiting to see if they had hit their target. BANG! BANG! BANG! The bundles had set off; twirling like small fireworks in the air they exploded with a cloud of red smoke. Coughing and stumbling she ran in roughly the direction of the castle walls. She could hear voices from behind her, Lupin seemed to be trying to clear the smoke with a spell and Ron seemed to have been hit repeatedly with her snowballs. A strong hand grabbed her arm firmly, she spun around in terror.

"Follow me," Snape whispered just loud enough for her to hear. Not waiting to see if she followed him, he sped ahead in a cyclone of black, his strides were long and he was soon far ahead. Hermione was breathing heavily and struggling to keep up. Suddenly, there it was, the castle wall ahead of her, she spotted the still outline of Snape crouched low and headed towards him.

"I wondered when you would grace me with your presence Miss Granger, give me your wand," he said in a perfectly calm voice. Hesitating for a split second Hermione gave her wand over to him.

"Rivelare i suoi misteri!" Snape spoke clearly to the wall in front of them. Nothing was happening; Hermione glanced sideways at Snape who seemed to be staring intently at the ivy bush that had climbed slowly up the wall with time. He gestured with his hand, and there right in front of her was an archway, gold rimmed and inscribed around the edge. He read it aloud, "Per aprirme lei deve risolvere dapprima questo crivella, l'ingiustizia e lei fallirà."

"Sir what does it say?" she asked hesitantly.

"Miss Granger, the little Gryffindor know it all doesn't know a simple bit of Italian, tut, tut! Very well, for your information it says, to open me you must first solve this riddle, wrong and you will fail," he said with sarcasm dripping off every word.

Then as the final word was said, the writing around the edge changed into the riddle that was to be solved, "Dire che lei non cercherebbe mai di perderme, Mentre lei noi vive non può separare, devo dimorare per tutta la vita in lei, Chiuso a chiave entro il suo cuore di punizione. It means say you'd never seek to lose me, while you live we cannot part, I must dwell lifelong inside you, locked within your beating heart." he read fluently and precisely.

"Blood," she said. The arch swung soundlessly inwards to reveal a doorway with a serpent knocker protruding out of it. Hermione looked at Snape; he was staring silently at her. His face looked surprised and his eyes flashed suddenly with an emotion she could not recognise. The world seemed to stop and sound disappeared completely, there was complete silence. He was the first to turn away, his boots crunched in the snow and the world was restored to its rightful way. Her cheeks were hot and flushed as she shifted nervously from one foot to the next.

"Come," he said with his back to her. She followed as he pushed the door open and as he did so it revealed...


	3. Chapter 3: Do you surrender?

**Chapter 3: The Tower**

She followed as he pushed the door open and as he did so it revealed... an endless corridor. The whole thing was made of glass. As Hermione stared at the ceiling she realised that she could see the corridor above them and as she turned her head to either side she was astounded to see small rooms passing her by. One looked like the Slytherin common room, as she passed it an eerie green glow penetrated the glass wall to her left. She gasped as another room was revealed, strange statues of wizards and witches were placed randomly in the room. The next room she passed was full of musty looking books, lined with dust in ornate bookcases. Each room along the corridor revealed more mysteries which she had never even considered could be there. Then quite suddenly, she stopped. A beautiful tropical room full of orchids, banana trees and exotic plants lay before her. The ceiling was enchanted just like the Great Hall, and a blazing sun shone on the plant's leaves casting strange shadows around the room. She turned to find Snape standing right behind her, with a look of amusement on his face. He strode silently towards her and pointed at the centre of the forest within.

"A bench lies just behind those palms, it's covered by a small waterfall which flows around you and the bench. I'm surprised you, Mr Potter and Mr Weasley haven't discovered the secrets of this passageway. Mind you, it took me quite some time to find, no matter, we must continue and quickly if we want the second phase of our plan to work!" he said in a voice that seemed to penetrate the gathering silence.

"Sir, I didn't know we had a phase two," Hermione replied, confused.

"Miss Granger I _will_ remind you not to question me," Snape said with the usual edge to his voice. He turned with one swift movement and was off again. Hermione once again was struggling to keep up, so she broke into a small jog. The next thing she knew she was once again sprawled all over the floor and a pale long fingered hand was reaching towards her. "Please do watch where you're going, Miss Granger, I would hate to have to explain to Albus why you had ended up in the hospital wing," he said with a sigh.

"Yes sir," Hermione mumbled to her shoes. Sighing again, Snape tapped on the glass and a small handle appeared, he stepped through and a gush off wind hit both of their faces.

"The Astronomy Tower!" he shouted above the noise of the wind, striding towards the stone wall that was the only thing stopping them from falling from a great height. "Ah! There they are!" he shouted again. As Hermione came to join him she realised he was right, she could see four small figures huddled behind a snow wall. "Take these, and throw them on the roof below us," Snape said whilst handing ten small bundles to her. Without questioning she aimed and dropped them, they all seemed to hit the roof. She waited but nothing happened. Snape was smirking evilly again, but why? BANG! BANG! She jumped at the noises and looked down to see a giant avalanche of snow heading towards the four small figures.

"Come on!" Snape shouted from the doorway.

"What did you do? That could have hurt them, you idiot!" Hermione shouted angrily.

"Five points from Gryffindor for insulting a teacher! Miss Granger I assure you that everyone down there will be fine, extremely cold and wet, but fine!" he bellowed at her. Hermione ran towards the door and followed Snape back down the corridor.

It was cold outside as the snow battered their faces, and their hair was already coated in the stuff by the time they had reached the pile of snow that was the phase two of Snape's plan. There they were, Lupin, Harry, Ron and Dumbledore coated in the stuff and looking incredibly annoyed.

"How the hell did you get from there to here?" Lupin asked a cheerful smile erupting suddenly on his face, his hand's pointing to them.

"Do you surrender then?" Snape asked rather smugly.

"NEVER!" Lupin shouted whilst his hand grabbed a ball of snow and threw it. SPLAT! Snow dripped of Snape's nose and fell to the floor. Hermione burst into laughter receiving a piercing glare from her potions professor.

"That's it you're going to get it now!" he roared back at them. He grabbed a snowball and threw it straight at Lupin's face, spluttering, Lupin grabbed another and an onslaught of snowballs came showering down on Snape. Hermione, still laughing got hit in the back of the head by Harry and Ron.

"Who ever the hell did that is going to wish they had never been born!" she screamed.

Harry and Ron dived for cover as twenty large snowballs came soaring towards them. The main battle had begun and nobody was safe, snowballs were flying everywhere. Hermione felt that same firm grip on her arm and turned to find Snape, dripping with snow and looking cold.

"Don't loose me, stay with me and fire as many as you can!" he shouted above the cries and exclamations of the others.


	4. Chapter 4:RUN!

**Chapter 4: RUN!**

Hermione dodged the oncoming snowballs," Ha, ha you missed me!" she shouted sticking her tongue out at the opposition. SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! Twenty or more snowballs hit her straight in the face, feeling thoroughly wet and no longer smug she looked around for a flash of black.

"Miss Granger, here, now!" Snape cried, ducking as a large snowball went flying over his head.

Hermione ran through the white onslaught, breathing heavily as she reached him. He didn't seem to notice her as he was frantically using his wand to raise a shield that would protect them for a while. Eyes darting constantly and mouth muttering complicated spells he backing slowly towards her. Soon they were back to back. Ron and Lupin were in front of her and Harry and Dumbledore were facing Snape.

"DUCK!" he shouted. Not even questioning why, she did so. A big snowball went soaring over their heads, it seemed that the shield had lost its strength and collapsed. Bringing herself back up she barely had a second to think when a snowball came hurtling towards their legs.

"JUMP!" she shouted. She and Snape jumped just in time and the snowball skimmed the bottom of their feet. They landed with a crunch in the hardening snow and ice. Suddenly, Hermione realised what was happening. Ron and Lupin had moved around to meet with Harry and Dumbledore; they were backing them into the wall. Spinning quickly around she stood by Snape's side, he too had noticed what was happening and his hand was firmly gripped around his wand. Hard wall met their backs.

"Do _you _surrender?" Lupin said smugly. Hermione glanced at Snape, his face was emotionless as usual but she could see a small glint in his eyes. With one swift movement his foot shot out. His wand flicked slightly and chaos ensued.

"RUN!" he bellowed as he jumped over a heap on the floor. Not knowing what had happened Hermione ran as fast as she could. Snape headed for a tall snowman that no doubt Dumbledore had built since it seemed to have a long white beard and half moon spectacles made of ice. Falling roughly on the cold ground Hermione finally looked back at the scene they had left.

Ron was just getting up from the floor with a helping hand from Lupin and Harry was getting up dazedly too. Dumbledore unscathed and looking cheerful was chuckling loudly at the whole thing much to the annoyance of everyone else.

"What did you do sir?" she asked.

"I drop kicked Mr Weasley and used Expelliarmus on Mr Potter," he announced with a smirk on his face. The sight of her two best friends on the floor after getting beaten by their least favourite teacher was too much for her. She collapsed into a fit of giggles. A deep rich laugh joined hers; she turned in amazement and saw the most feared teacher in Hogwarts laughing with her.

"I do have a sense of humour Miss Granger despite what everyone thinks!" he said with one eyebrow raised. She couldn't take it anymore, it was too much. Hermione once again burst out in hysterical laughter and Snape joined in too. By now they were both gasping for breath and their eyes were streaming with tears. Dragging herself round the side of the snowman she looked for the others. Where were they?

"Professor, they've gone," she said puzzled.

"What do you mean they've gone, they can't have? Let me see!" he demanded. He looked out at the white landscape, scanning the area; he then let out a little chuckle. "There by the lake, look, footprints," he pointed them out to her. She nodded in agreement as she saw four sets of footprints heading down towards the frozen expanse that was the Hogwarts Lake. What were they doing? She decided it was time to find out, slipping slightly on a patch of ice she headed towards the lake.

"Miss Granger come back!" Snape shouted angrily. Ignoring him she continued on.

"Miss Granger did you not hear me I said come back!" he shouted yet again. Sighing with exasperation he ran quickly yet soundlessly, following the path Hermione had taken. Catching up with her, he placed a hand on her shoulder. She jumped slightly. "I said Miss Granger come back, it may well be a plot to win knowing Albus," he said trying to sound angry, but for once his face gave him away, a worried look was fixed on it. Hermione stopped. His hand left her shoulder and he turned to face her. "Miss Granger I once again have a plan, we could work this to our advantage," he said with a familiar evil glint in his eyes.


	5. Chapter 5:Hot Chocolate

**Chapter 5: Hot chocolate**

Heading cautiously towards the lake, Hermione found herself staring at the back of her potions professor. Once again he had moved on ahead and expected her to keep up with his long strides. All was quiet as their boots crunched in the white snow, it was strange yet welcoming after the chaos of the battle beforehand. The castle looked even more magical than usual, the grounds were covered in a thick layer of pure white snow, the forbidden forest no longer looked foreboding with its sprinkling of white and the lake was frozen over with ice which sparkled in the sun.

"Miss Granger!" Snape shouted breaking the silence and her day dream. "As I have just said they don't seem to be here, by the way, five points from Gryffindor for making me repeat myself."

"Evil git," Hermione muttered under her breath. He was right though, the lake and its surroundings were deserted. She sighed, her breath making swirling wisps in the cold winter air. Glancing around just to make sure, she took out her wand. Muttering a quick spell at her shoes she stood up and walked towards the lakes edge. Snape didn't seem to notice as she skated confidently onto the ice making marks on the lakes surface. As she looked back, he was pacing along the shore with a look of concentration on his face. She smiled to herself, building up her courage she shouted, "Sir, come and join me!"

Swirling around, he stared at the figure skating his way. Had she just asked what he thought she had? Frowning slightly he took out his wand and produced the same spell Hermione had. Was this such a good idea? He hadn't skated for a long time, a long long time. Walking slowly to the ice he pushed of on one foot, then the next. Feeling more confident he started skating backwards, Hermione looked on in amazement at him. He stopped just in front of her, ice shards flicking up as his skating came to a halt.

"Care to join me?" he asked offering his arm to her. Not trusting herself to answer she slid her arm through his. They skating smoothly, zigzagging their way across the lake. Looking down at her he realised she was nervous about the whole thing, taking her hands in his, he smiled. The look of shock on her face made him laugh out loud as he continued to skate backwards looking at her.

Hearing that deep rich laugh, Hermione relaxed and smiled back. They continued to skate like this for some time until a small brown owl perched itself on Hermione's shoulder. Stopping and removing her hands from Snape's she took the message out of its beak.

"I hope you two are having a good time, we got bored and decided to go indoors for lunch, Albus was getting hungry and said he wanted some lemon drops! From Lupin," Hermione read aloud.

"That means we win!" Snape announced triumphantly.

"Is that all you think about?" Hermione asked while smiling slightly. "I'm freezing lets get inside," she said while skating back the way they had come.

When they got back to the shore they took the spell of their boots and walked back silently to the castle. Snape as usual had walked on ahead, Hermione sighed, she thought he had changed back there on the ice. He suddenly stopped waited for her to catch up and with one motion his arm was once again entwined with hers. He smiled at her, a smile that reached the depth of his black eyes. They walked silently to the castle doors and entered the Great Hall.

"There you are I wondered when you would get here, take your time, no matter, more chocolate for me!" Lupin exclaimed as they made there way to the table at the front. Harry and Ron were openly staring at the strange couple in front of then and Dumbledore had that familiar twinkle in his eyes.

"Miss Granger, Hermione, care for a hot chocolate in my quarters away from this babbling band of baboons," Snape whispered quietly in her ear. She nodded. "How do you like your hot chocolate?" he asked.

"Cream with one marshmallow," she replied shyly.

"Very well then, this way," he said. They turned and strode out of the Great Hall. Hermione took a quick glance back and chuckled as she saw the look of shock on her best friends faces, the look of silent knowing on Dumbledore's and the look of amusement on Lupin's.


	6. Chapter 6: 5 years later

Chapter 6: 5 years later

"Mione love!" a voice shouted from the kitchen.

"Yes!" Hermione replied, her voice muffled by the stacks of parchment on either side of her.

"Do you want a hot chocolate?" the voice asked.

"Yes please, you know how I like it right?" she asked.

"Cream with one marshmallow how could I forget!" the voice replied with a deep rich laugh.

As the chink of mugs could be heard in the kitchen, Hermione's quill scratched at the parchment before her on the dark wooden table in the living room. "Here you go," he said placing the steaming mug before her. Hermione raised her head and kissed him softly on the lips in thanks. He smiled the same smile that she had first seen on that snowy day. He hadn't changed at all she noted, as he peered over her shoulder at the first year essays she was marking, his lips curled into that well known sneer as his eyes darting over the scrawled writing of the student. "Why are you marking Lupin's classes?" he asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Because I offered to, plus he still has this strange notion that it was him that got us together because he suggested going down to the lake to look for Harry's lost bag. We followed the footprints and well, you know what happened from there." She said happily.

"Yes I do know what happened from there, we got married, you got the Defence Against the Dark Arts job alongside that chocolate loving werewolf and now you have to put up with me for the rest of your life," he said chuckling slightly at the look on Hermione's face.

"That just about sums it up!" she said, pulling him down for a gentle kiss.

The snow fell slowly outside, the frozen lake shimmered in the winter sunshine, snowmen peppered the grounds and a large snowball hit the window.


End file.
